A worker at Argos' 'fulfilment centre' on Island Road has come forward to dispute claims made by another employee that a gas leak on the premises was badly dealt with. 

Operator Jason, who claims to be "hated" by management, said that despite the previous worker stating that the potentially dangerous leak was mishandled by higher-ups, he feels that it went seamlessly and did not feel at risk. Read more here.

"I haven't been asked to do this, and am actually quite hated by the management team here. I'm not sure why, but they won't promote me," he said. 

"I'd probably be the last person they'd expect to back them, but I do not agree with what the other worker has said, and feel they handled it well."

Jason arrived at the fulfilment centre at 9 am last Wednesday, October 9, for his usual shift and saw people outside huddled together. 

Assuming it was just a fire drill, he carried on towards the building. Once he got there he was told by a few professionals that he was not allowed to go near the site, so he walked back down to the group of people. 

"They did actually send home the earlier shift as we weren't allowed in the building. We were then told there was an issue with the building at 10 am," Jason continued. 

"They also said that someone would be coming to check the gas leak. I then had a panic attack."

Jason revealed that he is known to have attacks and is on certain medications to deal with them. 

He then praised the management team for how well they dealt with this stressful situation.

Two of the managers came over and put him in the recovery position and the other called emergency services. Another went into the building to retrieve his medication. 

"One of them also offered to drive me home to get me out of the situation," he said. "They all really rallied around."

After the professional came back management then allegedly told the team that they could go home if they wanted to or could go to a nearby cafe to await further instruction. 

An Argos spokesperson, who gave their statement on Friday, October 11, said that their Local Fulfilment Centre in Reading closed temporarily on Thursday, October 10 while a methane leak in the area was investigated.

They said "Safety is our highest priority and we took immediate action when this was brought to our attention. The site was evacuated at 08.30 am on Wednesday and colleagues were taken to safe areas designated by Southern Gas Network."